While medicine, law, and other professions have made
considerable progress, race and gender equity remains a major
concern in architecture and planning, and among the organizations
that oversee education and practice.

The School of Architecture and Planning was created half a
century ago as a direct challenge to orthodox design education. We
live those original principles today, committed to architecture and
planning as interdisciplinary problem-solving enterprises, rooted
in social engagement, nourished by research-in-practice, animated
by making and doing, and committed to meeting the needs of clients,
communities, and society in an increasingly complex urban
world.

The School of Architecture and Planning and the University at
Buffalo offer a range of financial support opportunities for
students. Resources range from financial aid to scholarships to
student employment.

The School of Architecture and Planning, in partnership with the
university, our alumni, our faculty and staff, and our
philanthropic supporters, provides support to our undergraduate and
graduate students. In addition to tuition scholarships, stipends
for travel and supplies, and support for study abroad, our
students, like our faculty, are actively engaged in teaching,
research, and service—and are rewarded for their hard
work.

The Dean’s Council is a leadership group of friends of the
School of Architecture and Planning dedicated to raising
the global profile of the school and advancing its academic
programs and research enterprise. Members of the Dean’s
Council include distinguished alumni and leading
professionals, from firm executives to educators. As champions of
the School of Architecture and Planning, members leverage their
diverse expertise and leadership positions to forge new connections
and build the school's network of support.

Stay connected! Update your profile below and let us know where
you are and what you’re up to. As graduates of our
programs, your stories of success inspire our students and
enhance the reputation of the school on an international
platform.

The School of Architecture and Planning, in partnership with
local chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the
American Planning Association, has developed a Professional Mentor
Program for alumni and friends to share their experiences and
advice with current students.

Search job and internship opportunities in architecture and
planning. The following openings require varying levels of
education and experience and have been posted by employers on UB
Career Services' BullsEye system.

Looking Forward, Looking Back: A Symposium on the School of Architecture and Planning

50th Anniversary Kickoff: Friday, September 23 | 12 pm - 5 pm

The reopening of Hayes Hall, home to the School of Architecture
and Planning since 1977, offers an opportunity not only to reflect
on the life of the building but to consider the trajectory of the
school as an intellectual, scholarly, and professional enterprise.
Join us as we kick off our 50th anniversary with a symposium
that looks back on the school's formation during a time of turmoil
in design education and reflects on its impact over the decades as
a hub for experimental, community-engaged learning:

"Looking forward, looking back: A Symposium"

12 pm - 5 pm, 403 Hayes Hall

Program

Lunch: 12:00-12:30

Opening colloquy: 12:30-1:30
403 Hayes Hall

The UB School of Architecture and Environmental Design
will soon be 50 years old. What has made this enterprise
distinctive? What has been its mark on our students, the
communities we serve, and the professions we practice? We’ll
share reflections on the past and projections for the future with
alumni from across the nearly half-century lifespan of the
school.

Robert G. Shibley, Dean, UB School of Architecture and
Planning, moderator.

Discussion groups: 1:45-3:15

The Role of Research in Education and Practice: 309 Hayes
Hall

Critics in the 1960s argued that the practice of architecture
and planning needed badly to incorporate rigorous research to
inform our production of the built environment. In many ways, the
school has addressed this need, in both academic and practice
settings. What is the future need?

Bradshaw Hovey, (MUP 1991), Associate Research Professor,
moderator

Peter Hourihan, (M.Arch 1971), principal, CannonDesign,
(retired)

Edward Steinfeld, SUNY Distinguished Professor, director
IDeA Center

Samina Raja, Associate Professor, director of (food
lab)

Omar Khan, Associate Professor, Chair, Department of
Architecture.

A Critic Writes: 403 Hayes Hall

From the outset, the school has been a part of the
reconsideration of modernist practices, with critics like Reyner
Banham teaching and drawing on the legacy of the immediate built
environment, as well as the teachings of Buckminster Fuller and
John McHale. The heritage of this ground-breaking research has
been updated in the way that scholars and practitioners at the
School have investigated the role of technology in creating
environments. How have we engaged history, criticism,
discursive practices and experimentation to that end?

Cross-cultural engagements can expand student horizons and
illuminate issues in practice in ways that nothing else can. What
has been the result of experiences in Costa Rica, Barcelona,
Denmark, India, China, and elsewhere for students in the
school?

Shannon Bassett, moderator, Assistant Professor,
Architecture

Stephen C. Dunnett, Vice Provost for International
Education

Bonnie Ott, former Professor of Architecture

Camden Miller, doctoral student, Urban Design and
Planning

Kenneth MacKay, Clinical Associate Professor,
Architecture

Ecological Commitments: 401 Hayes Hall

The built environment is constructed on and in the natural
environment. Faculty and students have worked to understand and
shape the relationships between the two, to heal landscapes and
waterfronts, to minimize how buildings use resources, and to
promote health for humans and the environment.

The school was founded on the idea that the purview of
architecture extended beyond the design of buildings, whereby
“environmental design” was understood broadly as a form
of world-making and problem solving. Today architecture has
expanded into fields of practice not traditionally associated with
the profession. How are we continuing to redefine what it means to
practice architecture in a rapidly evolving field?

As the School of Architecture and Planning was emerging as a
center for urban thought in the region, planning educators across
the country were calling for a stronger emphasis on advocacy and
equity planning. How have these imperatives influenced the
development of our school? How will they shape and nourish our
future?

Robert Silverman, moderator, Professor, Urban and Regional
Planning;

Henry L. Taylor, Jr., Professor, Director, Center for Urban
Studies;

Molly Ranahan, UB Ph.D. Student, Urban and Regional
Planning;

Samina Raja, Associate Professor, Urban and Regional
Planning;

Jonathan White, Architectural Research and Design Associate,
the IDeA Center.

A Culture of Making: 401 Hayes Hall

For many years the school has nurtured a culture of hands-on
work. We are invested in making things and experimenting
directly on and with materials, blending traditional methods of
building with contemporary methods of digitally-driven
production. This has led to an academic environment where
acquiring a “deep knowledge” of tools and materials is
more the norm than exception and one can identify a number of
historical resonances -- from the medieval guilds, to the Arts and
Crafts movement, and the Bauhaus curriculum, to name a few.
And perhaps resulting from this “design/build” ethos,
our school has seen a vast number of students and faculty dig deep
into the meaning and use of materials – moving past
traditional cues from precedent toward contemporary innovations in
material behavior and performance. What are the next set of
issues that will guide material innovation?

The bread and butter of both architecture and planning pedagogy
has been the studio project. At UB this has often meant engaging
community partners in projects where a consequential outcome is
expected (and often paid for). What has been the impact of projects
across nearly five decades? How has our approach changed? How
should it change moving forward?